Peonies are perennial garden classics for good reason! Beloved for their large, often fragrant blooms, they are synonymous with English country garden style.
When redesigning the beds along the driveway to the Milner House, Denise and I decided this would be a perfect opportunity to introduce a diverse peony collection to the Gardens. There were just three peonies in the historic collection when I first started cataloguing the garden 25 years ago, all located around the Gardener’s Cottage. Just one of these remains (Paeonia lactiflora hybrid unknown) and is now located in the Cut Flower Garden. The tree peonies (Paeonia suffruticosa) near the entrance to the Nursery were added in 1998 and 2002.
The new collection of 22 peonies includes selections of early, mid and late season blooms, to provide an extended season of colour from mid-May through the end of June. All six recognized flower forms are represented – single, anemone, Japanese, semi-double, bomb, and full double. Included in the collection are intersectional peonies or Itoh peonies, named for Dr. Toichi Itoh, the Japanese botanist who created them. Itoh peonies are a cross between herbaceous and tree peonies, combining the best traits of both parent species. They feature sturdy attractive foliage, magnificent large blooms that don’t require support, and a longer bloom time.
I’ll be honest, as a garden designer, I’ve never been a huge fan of peonies because of their floppy nature and short-lived flowers, but the Itoh hybrids have me reconsidering my opinion! Peonies are relatively carefree and are rarely troubled by pests and disease. Some herbaceous types do require staking and there are specialty peony support rings for this purpose. Peonies tend to pout when they are disturbed so expect they may not bloom right away after planting or transplanting. But while they may take a couple years to establish, they are very long-lived plants and will bloom for many decades with minimal fuss. As cut flowers, peonies are hard to beat. And perhaps their best feature – the deer don’t eat them!
Kristi Bellis,
Plant Records Manager